Thursday, January 05, 2006

A period of silence

Whether it is Geoffrey Wheatcroft in The Spectator who pleads: “Spare me touchy-feely Tories”, or the leader in The Telegraph, one gets the feeling that the Boy King' honeymoon is screeching rapidly to a halt.

What most closely approaches this blog's sentiment, though, is a letter in the Telegraph from Ted Huxley. He writes:

If, prior to the leadership contest, Conservative Party members had been aware of David Cameron's socialist plans, I don't think he would have won. However, we are where we are.

One subject is missing from his list of priorities: the European Union. Since his declared intention to take his MEPs out of the EPP, things have gone very quiet on Europe, and he has a minor rebellion on his hands.

From previous Tory leaders we have had "Britain at the heart of Europe", "In Europe but not ruled by Europe" and "I am determined that Britain shall remain a positive and influential member of the European Union".

Is Mr Cameron going to give us more of the same?

There is, incidentally, a letter from a certain Christopher Booker who notes, a propos the recent discussion about the Royal Yacht, that the sum quoted to replace it when it was decided to scrap Britannia in 1997 was £60 million. This, Booker points out, would have cost us less than we now pay every two days into the EU budget (£70 million), and is less than the cost of one Eurofighter (£65 million). Which of these three projects, he asks, would have given the taxpayers best value for money?

Anyhow, Wheatcroft suggests in his Spectator article that a "period of silence" from the Boy King would be welcome. But for the opportunity to use another splendid photo-montage from Anoneumouse, we would also have preferred a "period of silence" about the Boy King.